1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing a service utilizing a portable electronic authentication means such as an IC card (smart card). More specifically, the present invention relates to an IC card terminal and an IC card which make the above-mentioned services possible.
2. Related Art
IC cards have been issued to those who desire the utilization of IC-card services and an IC-card application corresponding to the desired service is stored in the IC card. In this case, the holder of the IC card is naturally able to utilize the card, but in order to show that he is a right holder, it is necessary for him to memorize his personal identification number and when he utilizes a service, he has to input his personal identification number onto an IC-card terminal.
For the contents of an IC-card service, there are some kinds of services which use a plurality of IC-card applications such as the point service in a shopping district or the settlement of a David credit.
In a case, there are many kinds of utilizing ways as shown below: a self-governing body issues resident cards and they can be used as identifications and also there are other utilization method such as IC-card applications for utilizing public facilities can be stored in resident cards.
In some self-governing bodies, the seal certificate has been formed in the form of an IC card and the entry of an issue request of one's seal certificate is electronically performed without asking it to a clerk at the window.
The IC-card application according to the present invention is expressed by a file in the case of ISO7816 or JICSAP standard and is expressed by a program and data in the case of Javacard standard or MULTOS standard. In the former, various kinds of data are stored in a card memory and the operation is performed by a program in the IC-card terminal, and in the latter, a card has a program and data.
According to the present invention, when one receives various kinds of services, the necessary data, etc. for receiving services are stored in a plurality of cards and these cards are used in association. Thus the loads of users are largely lightened.
A conventional card has had a disadvantage that an IC-card holder is required to memorize his personal identification number, but sometimes he forgets it or because the number can be easily guessed by others the number does not work as a personal identification number.
A first object of the present invention is to make a card holder free from memorizing his personal identification number and yet to make it possible to provide a means for certifying that he is the right holder of the card.
There is a demand to diversify the contents of a point service in the shopping district using an IC card of a conventional type and also a demand for seizing and enclosing customers in the district by providing some conditions. As an example of diversification of services and conditions following can be considered: for the purpose of giving incentives to purchasing volition of customers, they are recommended to have a plurality of cards for accumulating a plurality of kinds of points and the points can be doubled under some conditions of combinations of IC cards. There has been a disadvantage in the conventional technique that it has been impossible to set conditions about the combination of IC cards.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a means for setting conditions about IC cards.
There has been a disadvantage as mentioned below in the reservation for utilizing public facilities with a conventional resident card issued by a self-governing body. Even when a resident in the neighboring self-governing body other than the one managing public facilities desires to utilize the facilities, the resident card in the neighboring self-governing body is unable to store the IC-card application necessary for the utilization of the public facilities. It is also impossible to issue a resident card which is able to store the application from the viewpoint of the system; therefore, it has been impossible to form the resident card in the form of an IC card which enables the utilization of public facilities by a resident in the neighboring self-governing body.
A third object of the present invention is, presupposing that one has his resident card of a neighboring self-governing body, to provide a means which enables the issue of an IC card for utilizing the public facilities.
In some case, for an entry to the window of a self-governing body, the appending of a document issued by another window is needed. In such a case, if the entry or the document is electronically processed, it is necessary to designate electronically the electronic document to be added to the electronic entry and to inspect them promptly if there is any mistake or omission in the entry documents at the receipt of the documents; however, the method of executing the inspection is not clearly decided.
A fourth object of the present invention is, in a case where the entry and the document to be appended are realized by an IC-card application, to provide a means to enable to show the document to be appended electronically and to quicken the inspection of the entry documents when they are received at the window.